My mum 85 low user is looking for a new energy deal for gas and electric Was on a fixed price deal

Gobsh

My mum 85 low user is looking for a new energy deal for gas and electric

Was on a fixed price deal for 2 years

Currently with Octopus variable rate. Ouch

She seems to think that prices will go down in March?

Any ideas of the best fixed price deals

bristolleedsfan

Gobsh said:

My mum 85 low user is looking for a new energy deal for gas and electric

Was on a fixed price deal for 2 years

Currently with Octopus variable rate. Ouch

She seems to think that prices will go down in March?

Any ideas of the best fixed price deals

No exit fees on current Octopus 12 month fixes, can swap to another tariff at anytime.

Alnat1

All suppliers variable rates are similar prices and not the "ouch" they used to be.

Many fixes are now more expensive than SVTs and people opt for them more as a certainty of what they will pay for 12 months rather than to save money.

bristolleedsfan

Alnat1 said:

All suppliers variable rates are similar prices and not the "ouch" they used to be.

Many fixes are now more expensive than SVTs and people opt for them more as a certainty of what they will pay for 12 months rather than to save money.

Most ( if not all) 12 month fixes are cheaper than current SVT and have been for some time.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/-are-there-any-cheap--fixed-energy-deals-currently-worth-it--/

No exit fees means a cheaper fix is worth taking compared with SVR/Flexible Octopus

FreeBear

Gobsh said: Currently with Octopus variable rate.

Recently joined Octopus and switched to their tracker tariff about three weeks back. Saving around 30% on both gas & electricity at the moment over the SVR, and I'm a low user too (2200KWh electricity, and 3300KWh gas). If the house is fitted with smart meters, tracker or agile are worth considering.

Gobsh

What's SVT?

Swipe

Gobsh said:

What's SVT?

Standard Variable Tariff

Gobsh

30% is a big saving. Is the tracker rate always around 30% behind variable rate? Looks like quite a complicated formula and doesnt relate to variable rates so you can't see whether you'll make a saving?

FreeBear said:

Gobsh said: Currently with Octopus variable rate.

Recently joined Octopus and switched to their tracker tariff about three weeks back. Saving around 30% on both gas & electricity at the moment over the SVR, and I'm a low user too (2200KWh electricity, and 3300KWh gas). If the house is fitted with smart meters, tracker or agile are worth considering.

MarzipanCrumble

I am interested in this too as a low user though a bit more than #FreeBear

FreeBear

Gobsh said:

30% is a big saving. Is the tracker rate always around 30% behind variable rate? Looks like quite a complicated formula and doesnt relate to variable rates so you can't see whether you'll make a saving?

FreeBear said:

Gobsh said: Currently with Octopus variable rate.

Recently joined Octopus and switched to their tracker tariff about three weeks back. Saving around 30% on both gas & electricity at the moment over the SVR, and I'm a low user too (2200KWh electricity, and 3300KWh gas). If the house is fitted with smart meters, tracker or agile are worth considering.

I used this web site to look at historical prices and get an idea of averages over the last year or so - https://dashboards.energy-stats.uk/d/5cZqqmf4z/user-dashboard?orgId=1 - Little box at the top left hand side will show a drop-down menu where you can select your area. Top right hand side, another drop-down menu to select date ranges.

Over the last 12 months, electricity has been 18.8p/KWh on average, and gas, 4.6KWh - Consistently below SVR, although there were some nasty peaks over winter 2022 (thanks to those pesky Russians).

spot1034

30% is indeed a big saving, but it's unlikely to be maintained for very much longer as the SVT will certainly fall in April, and if prices stick at around their present level it will fall again in July. This reflects the backward looking SVT which is finally catching up with the steep falls in prices we have seen whilst these are already reflected in tracker rates. 

Tracker needs watching like a hawk, especially if prices spike upwards for any reason, and this will be even more important if the savings against the SVT are no longer so significant.